Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy will retain WCCUSD Area 4 seat; Area 5 filing extended to Aug. 12

With no competitors emerging by the Aug. 7 filing deadline, Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy has won another four-year term on the West Contra Costa Unified School District board representing Area 4, which includes El Sobrante, parts of Richmond and San Pablo, and a sliver of Pinole.

Gonzalez-Hoy, a former teacher who came to the United States from Mexico at age 14, has served on the board for six years. More information on his background is available on the “about” page of his campaign website https://www.demetriogonzalezhoy.net/background 

Newcomer Caitlin Garibaldi remains the only candidate so far for Area 5, which includes El Cerrito, Kensington, and a portion of Richmond. Since the incumbent, Leslie Reckler, is not seeking reelection, filing for that seat remains open until Aug. 12.

Garibaldi has lived in El Cerrito for seven years, is a Fairmont Elementary School parent, and works in pet care.

The Nov. 3 ballot will also include a WCCUSD measure to renew a 7.2 cents per building-square-foot parcel tax. Passage requires a two-thirds majority vote. The measure would expire in nine years. It includes an exemption for people 65 and older for a parcel they own and occupy.

It also exempts people who apply if they are: “(b) receiving Supplemental Security Income for a disability regardless of age; (c) receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, regardless of age, whose yearly income does not exceed 250 percent of the 2012 federal poverty guidelines issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.”

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